20 injured in communal clashes in Jaipur

Over 20 people, including a dozen policemen, were injured in this Rajasthan capital following a violent clash between two communities Thursday, officials said.

People hurled stones on the policemen who were trying to control the situation, torched a factory and damaged over a dozen cars, they added.

A senior police officer told IANS that the clash started following a dispute over parking in the city's Sanganer area around 4 p.m.

"Some people from two communities got into a verbal fight. Soon, hundreds of people from both sides started gathering. After pelting stones at houses, some groups of people went on rampage and torched a factory. They smashed the windows of several cars," said the officer.

In the stone pelting, Jaipur's acting Commissioner of Police Biju Gorge Joseph, an additional deputy commissioner of police and an assistant commissioner of police sustained injuries, the officer added.

"Police had to resort to mild baton-charging. Over 500 policemen have been deployed in the area to restore law and order," the official said.